3/23/2026

Is Singapore a smart city for real? What kind of talents are behind this smart city aspiration?

CNA Explains: What causes GIRO errors and what you can do if it happens

The Consumers Association of Singapore received 10 complaints relating to unauthorised GIRO deductions from Jan 1 last year to Mar 16 this year.

SINGAPORE: To pay for their children’s student care, some parents set up GIRO arrangements with Little Professors Learning Centre, expecting routine monthly deductions of fees.

Instead, they got a rude shock. Some were charged the wrong amount in certain months – and charged twice in others.

One mother, who was supposed to pay S$30 (US$24) a month, was charged S$196.80 on three occasions and S$68 once.  CNA

Hearing this kind of news I can only shake my head. What kind of software talents are we using to write such apps? I just came back from a short holiday and have been using Alipay, Wechat, Trips.com and also have been using Shopee for online shopping. Think of the hundreds of billions of transactions that these Chinese apps are handling daily! One mistake and the whole system will collapse, and no more trust in using them. Think of the complexities that these apps are managing, providing all kinds of services, not just one or two functions!

When one 'was supposed to pay S$30 (US$24) a month, was charged S$196.80 on three occasions and S$68 once', this is serious. This is not a mistake! This is more than a mistake. How can anyone trust such a system? 'Professor Sumit Agarwal of the National University of Singapore’s business school also said GIRO errors are rare.' “There are very small issues that happen, very few and far between, but systematic problems are very rare,” he said. This is unacceptable. Financial system must have zero defect. Can you imagine what will the impact of such errors in Alipay, Wechat or Shopee? We just shrugged it off as normal, as rare, small issues that will happen? Are we supposed to live with such errors?

Why is Singapore, bragging about being a smart city, bragging about all the foreign talents or fake talents that were brought in, facing so many glitzes in the software being used by the banking and financial industries when the usage is just a trickle of what the Chinese software were handling?

Are we getting the best talents, the real stuff to work for us? Why not hire the best but go for fakes and 9th or 10th best, or rejects that cannot go to America or anywhere and have to land in Singapore?

6 comments:

Virgo49 said...

Good morning Mr RB and All

Just to add the balance amount as shown on the SimplyGo Card for commuters have to cough up millions yo rectify it?

So in the end have to have two separated systems!

What's a joke these IT EXPURTS!

From where ah?

Oh just like the Americunts have hyped up sky high prices just to signify these are expensive systems ah!

So many Data breakdowns for Telcos, Banks MRT systems and they said we had World First Class Systems that tied up with those Kuching Kurap Dying Whites Countries that are also struggling with theirs!

Airports systems also linked with the half past six Anglo-Saxons Countries with already defunct obsolete systems.

No eyes see just because they are fully memerised and related to their own counterparts of same Colonial eras.

M.O.T DOOMED!

wonkieman said...

Check the university qualifications of the programmers.

Anonymous said...

Cannot say like that. Foreign talents had been touted to create jobs for Singaporeans, which is very true. When more crimes are committed by foreigners, the police have more duties to perform, so more jobs are needed to be created in the police force.

When trains and transport facilities break down, more jobs need to be created to rectify those failing facilities. The more often they break down, the more jobs are created, and the more money goes to the Government in fines. Of course, the final victims are the commuters having to pay higher fares.

And then we have more jobs created to build facilities to house those foreign talents, more road congestions, so they have to build more roads to accommodate more traffic with more foreigners buying cars. I know it is all a 'huat ah' agenda with COE's being pushed forever higher. The rich are not complaining.

Anonymous said...

Check with who, the fake checking companies?

Anonymous said...

The fake degree industries is a complete supply chain, involving universities and the govt to protect the issuers of fake degrees and buyers of fake degrees. More checking means throwing more money to more fake agencies to confirm fake degrees are real.

Virgo49 said...

Trusted whatsoever the Vendors said!

Dotard Trump's favourites what's pro pro Ahem Ahem ah?